"Hey! Ears!"

Vaarsuvius sighed and looked away from their parchment-littered desk, looking at the approaching halfling and gesturing at him with an outstretched arm. "Bitterleaf. I am trying to scribe this spell for the benefit of our team- including yourself. Interrupting my progress is counterproductive."

"Oh don't worry, this won't take long." Belkar grinned, waving a hand dismissively in the air.

"Very well. Proceed." Vaarsuvius narrowed their eyes.

"So remember those Explosive Rune spells you love casting on me?"

"Technically, I cast them on a series of innani-"

"I need one."

Vaarsuvius turned back to their scroll. "I will not assist in your juvenile antics. Even if I were to ignore your past nefarious scheming, which is unlikely due to my rather unpleasant experience with your deeds, my time is of value and I shall not waste it."

"Aw, come on, V! It's for a good cause!"

"I was unaware you understood the semantics of the phrase."

Belkar crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. Vaarsuvius continued writing, dipping their quill in the inkwell.

Beat panel.

"Have I ever told you how hot you look in those robes?" Belkar cooed, grinning mischievously. Vaarsuvius jerked, their hand knocking over the inkwell and spilling its contents onto the desk. The elf hastily grabbed the spilling container and set it upright before any more damage could be done.

Belkar leaned sideways on the desk with a cocked brow and went on as the elf tried to clean up the spill. "I coulda swore I'd mentioned it before, but I guess not, huh?"

Vaarsuvius appeared to be attempting to ignore him completely, fully focusing on mopping up the spill. The elf's lips were pressed together and their eyes were wide.

"But the ponytail is the icing on the cake. Really brings out those sexy elf ears, you know?" Belkar prodded, grinning wider as he watched the flustered elf attempt to ignore his existence. Vaarsuvius was always so sophisticated and put-together, so it was hilarious to him to watch the elf lose their shit over his unexpected flirting. Their mouth was set in a hard line and their beautiful eyes were wide. The elf lost any color that they might have once had, and their nose scrunched up in the cutest way. He watched the elf with lowered eyelids and raised eyebrows, enjoying the moment.

Vaarsuvius eventually caved after they ran out of ink to clean up and resorted to shuffling and reshuffling the papers over and over. "Pr-preposterous!" The elf sputtered, shuffling the papers about mindlessly.

"Come on, don't sell yourself short -you're one smokin' hot babe. Or dude, not really sure."

Vaarsuvius's jaw clenched, but they remained silent and simply straightened the papers with the deliberation of someone defusing a bomb. Belkar jumped up onto the table and got right in front of the wizard. Vaarsuvius intently stared at the papers in their hand, trying to look like they were concentrating. "Bitterleaf, I am trying to-"

Belkar reached out and put a finger under the elf's chin. Vaarsuvius stiffened. The halfling grinned and rather delicately raised V's chin to force the elf to look at him. Vaarsuvius's wide eyes locked with his, and Belkar's eyelids drooped. His eyebrows raised as his grin grew softer. Their faces were inches apart, close enough that they could hear the other's breathing. Vaarsuvius's ears drooped and the elf's entire face was that of impending doom.

"Vaarsuvius..." Belkar began quietly, staring into the elf's eyes.

"P-p...p...pardon?" Vaarsuvius sputtered out in a terrified voice, frozen still.

Belkar leaned in closer and whispered breathily in their ear.

"Are you sure you can't give me an Explosive Runes?"

Vaarsuvius jerked back, grabbing their quill and hastily scrabbling something on one of the papers in their lap. Then they all but shoved it at the halfling. "There, now depart at once!" The elf almost shouted in a flustered mess.

Belkar grinned and hopped down off the desk. He walked to the door before looking back at the frantic elf, winking, and then shutting the door behind him.